Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
by Chelsea Oz
Summary: The ballad of Mike and Carol's first date (Billy Joel fans will see what I did there)! One shot. I hope you enjoy.


***Author's Note: I had to delete "The Longest Time" due to posting lyrics when I wasn't supposed to. That has been deleted by me. This is pretty much the same story but different title and no lyrics. I hope you enjoy!***

"I have got to be crazy," I said to myself. I was alone in the car so nobody could hear me. "I just buried my wife a few weeks ago."

I seriously couldn't believe I was doing this. My now deceased wife, Liz and Carol Martin were friends where they worked. They were secretaries at the Goldberg and Rosenthal Law Firm. Liz had told me nothing but good things about Carol and I had to believe she was just as good of a person even though I never met her until the day of my wife's services. She had hugged me and gave me her number. She told me that if I ever needed anything, even just to chat, to call. She had lost her husband about a year ago and had three baby girls to tend to. I told her about my three baby boys and remarked how horribly similar our stories were.

I have been a zombie. I have been on survival mode since that one awful morning where I woke up to find my wife dead in her sleep. I have gotten up at my six-thirty alarm, showered, breakfast and off to work. I get out of work, have dinner and do homework with the boys and then off to bed I send them. I don't know what I would do without Alice Nelson. She has been an angel with being there for my boys and there to keep the house from looking like a dump that it would be if it were just me by myself. She even tries to counsel me and I thank her for it, but let's face it, she never lost a spouse, she just doesn't know.

That's why I'm here now. To talk and have dinner with Carol Martin. A woman who has been through my pain and somehow has managed to come out the other side. I finally take a deep breath and get out of my car. I take another deep breath as I walk into this causal Italian restaurant. I spot her at a table, smiling and waving at me. I smile, wave, and make my way to her. As I greeted her and sat down, I realized that for the first time in weeks I didn't have to remind myself to breath.

"Do you like red wine?" I ask her.

"I love it!"

"Terrific!" I exclaim just in time for the waiter to come by.

"We would like a bottle of your house red. Also, for me, I would like the veal piccata."

"Oh, that sounds good! I'll have what he's having!"

Well, that's got to be a good sign, she likes what I like! As the night grew, the more I felt I could talk freely with Carol. Everything that I have felt and everything I have done, she understood. She has been there and done that. I knew I had called her for a reason. There was another thing, too, in between sips of red wine and bites of veal, I found myself laughing for the first time since I don't even remember when. Then something happened, she spilt red wine on herself. The wine trickled off her chin and down in between her breasts.

"Pardon my silly self," she said while trying to wipe the wine from her cleavage. She caught me looking down her dress. I couldn't help myself, it excited me. I thought she was going to be mad but she was just the opposite. She _liked_ the fact that I was looking at her. She gave me a kiss on the cheek I guess to let me know that I shouldn't be embarrassed and I kissed her cheek back.

"Want some coffee?" She finally asked after some not-so-awkward silence.

"Sure."

That was our dessert. We just kept chatting and laughing our way into late in the evening. I didn't want to let her go but I felt Alice had done more than her fair share of the day so I asked for the check. Carol, of course, was more than understanding. We grabbed our coats when the tab and tip was squared away and we parted with a goodbye hug.

"We should do this again, sometime, if you can," she told me.

"Yes, we definitely will. I would love to. Thank you."

"No, thank you."

No wonder why Liz liked her so much. That woman had breathed life back into me and made me feel things I thought I would never feel again. This lovely lady sure was special and I made myself a vow that I was never going to let her go.


End file.
